Most books on nutrition assume everybody is the same. But it ain’t so. We’re all different. Yet we are told to avoid fat and eat fruits and vegetables as if there’s no difference between us.
Fat is blamed for everything. Heart disease. Cancer. Overweight. Rising petrol prices. You name it. Instead we should switch to carbohydrates - fruit, veg, grains etc.
Fat Is Good
There’s a medically approved diet for certain children. Fat makes up 90% of the calories of this diet. I kid you not. And yet these children grow normally, are of normal weight and their cholesterol levels are only slightly higher than usual. What these children have is epilepsy. Their seizures are controlled by this diet.
A typical breakfast might be mushroom omelette with bacon and a cup of hot chocolate made with 36 per cent cream. This may not appeal to you, but for the children and their families it’s just what they need.
What, you’re not convinced? It’s a special case you’re thinking. It doesn’t apply to the general population. For the rest of us, fats are bad, vegetables and fruits are good.
Not really! Some nutritionists believe our most common nutritional deficiency is …. fat.
Saturated fat is often portrayed as the great enemy. The reality is that while it may not be the best type of fat to eat, humans are adapted to eat it. The real enemy are the fats that come from food processing. These foods give us far too much of the omega 6 and trans fats and far too little omega 3 fats from fish oils.
Vegetable Can Be Bad
Professor McColl of Glasgow University warns us that eating vegetables could be the cause of the fastest growing cancer in the UK. He and his research team think nitrate fertilisers could be responsible for the trebling of throat cancer over the last 20 years.
Buying organic is not the answer. They are also loaded with nitrate.
I could mention all the naturally occurring toxins, carcinogens and mutagens found in fruits and vegetables. But I won’t. At least not for this article.
I could even mention those that are especially sensitive to carbohydrates. They must limit their intake of vegetables and fruits because they cause their blood sugar levels to swing wildly. But we’ll leave that alone.
I could even refer to those people that have a toxic reaction to fruits and vegetables like onions, tomatoes, oranges and grapefruit.
And there are those that are allergic to aspirin. The chemical salicylate which is found in aspirin is also found in high amounts in fruits and vegetables.
Of course I’m not seriously telling you to avoid fruits and vegetables and eat fatty foods. I’m making the simple point that you are an individual, with nutritional requirements that are personal to you. There is no other person on earth that’s like you, so don’t let anybody tell you what to eat and drink. Get to know your own body and understand what makes it tick.
Don’t listen to nutrition ‘experts.’ Listen to your body.